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Officials in Mexico are awaiting identification of the avian influenza strain that appears to have affected more than half a million chickens in central Mexico. An H7N3 outbreak led the government to cull some 22 million birds in western Mexico last year. Officials have said the current strain has not affected humans in the area.

Related Summaries

Poultry in Europe are being culled after avian influenza was detected, putting the disease back in the news. The H5 and H7 forms of the influenza virus are virulent among birds, and strains of each have passed to humans. Cases of avian influenza have been have been found in South Korea, China, Japan, Western Europe and Russia, and migration and the poultry trade likely contribute to the spread of disease.

H7N9, a strain of avian influenza not previously known to affect humans, has killed three people and sickened six others in China. Scientists who have examined the virus' genetic material are voicing concerns that the human outbreak could become more serious. "The virus has to a certain extent already adapted to mammalian species and to humans, so from that point of view it's worrisome," said influenza expert Ab Osterhaus. Additionally, the strain appears to cause mostly mild symptoms in birds, making the virus difficult to track and monitor.

The H7N3 avian influenza virus has surfaced at two egg farms in Mexico, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health, or OIE, resulting in the culling of some 300,000 birds in an attempt to isolate the outbreak. "Timely notification from the farmer and surveillance activities allowed immediate depopulation of the two affected production units, reason why both outbreaks identified are closed," Mexican authorities said in a report.

Health officials in South Korea have reported an outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza at poultry farms in two provinces. The outbreak led to the culling of poultry infected with the virus and quarantining of affected commercial farms.

China's agriculture ministry on Tuesday reported the first bird flu outbreak in the country among poultry this year after more than 500 fowl in the Xinjiang region were confirmed to have died of the H5N1 avian influenza strain. The ministry said that the situation is under control and that it has implemented emergency measures, including the culling of about 13,000 more fowl.